REVIEW Club Med: Sleek, sexy AVA is alive with vibe
It was a long shot, striding in on a Sunday evening at prime time, but the Park Avenue restaurant gods were on my side. Two corner bar seats opened just as the host flashed a friendly smile in the space formerly known as Luma, now occupied by the brazenly buzzed-about AVA MediterrAegean.
Within minutes, our engaging bartender was prepping the garnish on A Toast to Amalfi ($15), a dazzling, Negroni-inspired beverage, bitter and beautiful and capped with a torched orange wedge. We grooved on the soundtrack — sexy Middle Eastern-inspired lounge beats — we watched the mixology show, and as my partner pondered the menu, I wheeled around to take in the scene.
With a touch of heady humidity making it past the AC — AVA boasts airy open doors to its sidewalk tables — its interior, with clean whitewashed walls and smooth, rounded arches, evokes Santorini with a kiss of South Beach.
That’s where MILA, AVA’s “MediterrAsian” sister, has been making a name for itself in a breathtaking rooftop setting for just over a year.
One perimeter sweep and I had visions of where Kabooki Sushi and its posh Colonial Drive lounge, presently in development, might be headed: pretty people of all stripes, packed in before the whir and blur of an open, active kitchen.
The place is so gorgeous, it made me feel gorgeous.
So, too, did the Greek Salad Gibson ($15). It’s not for everyone, but the dirty Martini set will absorb its smooth salinity like mineral water from the finest spa in the Cyclades.
“People love that drink. It’s one of my favorites,” says executive chef Keith Bombaugh, whose resume includes stints at Menton and Meritage in his hometown of Boston and the molecular gastronomic stronghold of Chicago’s three-Michelin-starred Alinea.
“Ilan [Chartor, AVA’s lead mixologist] is a genius when it comes to taking culinary inspiration and pivoting that into a cocktail.”
Mixed olives ($9) paired nicely, too, but that “Amalfi” was it for me, a love match right out of the gate. One I’d return to, along with our server’s artful prep — including graceful and dramatic porrón-style pours that could give MILA’s fire shows a run for their money.
Those same skills employed in cocktailing were on display when the salt-baked fish (MP) made its appearance, as our bartender — by now, she was Lesley — morphed seamlessly into server mode, lighting up the saltpacked fish, on this night snapper, with aplomb and understated showmanship.
Tender, evenly cooked and flaky — with a hint of that insulating salt — it was lovely alongside a crunchy, aromatic fennel salad and ratatouille byaldi ($12). All the peasant flavors packed into a posh prep that sings, its razor-thin slices racked up like a dealer’s chips in Monaco.
Everything, says Bombaugh, plays a role in what is the team’s end goal: a complete experience.
A Toast to Amalfi. Beautiful, bitter and smoky with lovely charred citrus on the nose.
“No matter how good your recipes, the dishes, the service structure, if your team doesn’t believe in the concept, it doesn’t matter. We’ve been very lucky in finding people who really have a passion for what they do and for the craft of hospitality.”
Even on a Sunday night, the place was alight. So, too, at one point, were the spices sealed inside the Keftedes meatballs ($14). They’ve been among AVA’s bigger hits, Bombaugh says, with a flourish of kitchen science.
“They’re mixed with salt and lit on fire,” he explains. “And those retro-nasal aromas are giving you the essence of campfire while you’re eating the
meatballs.”
It evokes memories of cooking over and eating around a fire, he says. Of warmth, family, friends.
“AVA’s concept, at its heart and soul, is about people coming together, sharing an experience. It’s what we want to capture and offer: memories created together around sharing food.”
And at increasingly more approachable price points, he says — a nice selling point for folks less keen on dropping $200 for date night. In other news, Sunday brunch launches on Mother’s Day (May 8) and they’ll be open seven days a week beginning May 16. At press time, new dishes had been added to the menu, including skewers ranging from $14-16.
“Things that are easier to snack on, that are very affordable because we want people to come in and have a good time, whether that’s a drink and a small bite or the whole branzino, the rib-eye and the full rack of lamb shared with four or
five people.”
We did the half rack ($48) on a subsequent visit and its presentation — a showy reveal in poof of Copperfieldian smoke — is the stuff Instagram reels are made of. Of note: Seating along that dining room wall is tight — and I’m only five feet tall.
Desserts were knockouts on both visits. The rich Greek yoghurt and blossom honey with caramelized, salted nuts ($10) was my favorite by a nose, but the Chocolate Fondant ($12), an eruption of dark, silky lava with the piney, palate-cleansing punch of mastiha liquor gelato, was heavenly, too.
“I’ve yet to see someone get that cake and not smile,” says Bombaugh, who says the dichotomy of the two picks reflects the different schools from which chefs mine inspiration.
“There are things here — like the yoghurt and honey — that are very homey and incredibly simple, and things that are modern, cutting edge.”
To the people who upon their sneak peek at AVA’s Med-forward menu threw out terms like “boring” or “cookie-cutter” on social media, sample their briny Gibson, those smoky meatballs, or the dramatic show of that fish — fired in preso and phenomenal on the plate — and you may well feel differently.
And to those who let in the guy in the frayed denim shorts, or the one in the aging Guns ‘N’ Roses T-shirt, I’d say there’s nothing wrong with politely enforcing the dress code. If Orlando wants to level up its dining landscape with high-dollar, see-and-beseen venues, I don’t think a $15 button-down or a plain, black tee is too much to ask.
AVA runs a tight ship. And seemingly, a happy one. It was contagious.
“You guys are a vibe,” Lesley told us amid the energy and festivity at the bar. And while I’m not about to disagree, I do think we got a boost.
Because everyone inside AVA is the vibe.
“The food is just one tool for the guest experience,” Bombaugh says. “What the best meals come down to is the environment we were in and the people we were with.”
If you go: 290 S. Park Ave. in Winter Park; 407-794-9896; avamediterraegean.com
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@ orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.